ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of External Affairs
Regional Passport Office, Cochin will Remain Open on Monday
In view of State Government's decision to change MUHARRAM holiday from 08-08-22  to 09-08-22  and also Notice issued by the Central Government Employees Welfare Co-ordination Committee, Thiruvananthapuram, Regional Passport Office, Cochin, Passport Seva Kendras  and Post Office Passport Seva Kendras  under the jurisdiction of RPO, Cochin, will remain open on 08-08-2022  and 09-08-2022 will be observed as a closed holiday.
Accordingly, the applicants who have taken appointment for 09-08-2022  are requested to be present at the respective PSK/POPSK on 08-08-22  at the same time slot.
Ministry of Defence
NCC holds Bi-annual conference
The two-day Bi-annual conference of the National Cadet Corps  was held at its headquarters in New Delhi on 02 and 03 May 2019. Additional Directors General and Deputy Directors General representing NCC Directorates from all the states in the country attended the conference.
Whilst inaugurating the conference, Director General, NCC Lt Gen Rajeev Chopra highlighted the efforts made in the past six months to improve the training, infrastructure and logistic functions of the organisation. Major issues discussed in the conference included early fructification of ongoing expansion plan of NCC as per Govt directives to meet the aspirations of our youth. The Director General reiterated that NCC is fully committed to the cause of motivating Young Indians to become responsible citizens of the country.
The Director General emphasised that resurgent India should be our prime focus and NCC should also consciously contribute towards social awareness and community development programmes. He also stressed the need of institutionalized training to be the main focus of all Directorates. He appreciated the contribution of all units towards Swachhta Abhiyan and also towards spreading awareness towards digital economy. He called for synergised efforts from all Directorates in sync with Central and State Govt policies which will result in a more effective realisation of the goals set for our organisation.
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Ministry of Defence
Low allocation of Defence Budget
Defence Budget as a percentage of GDP may appear to be decreasing due to increasing trend in the growth of GDP. However, it is increasing in absolute terms, implying higher spending. Defence Budget  is Rs.4,04,364.71 crore, which is 16.6% of total Central Government Expenditure for the year 2018-19. Further, Capital budget of Ministry of Defence for 2018-19 is approximately 33% of the total capital expenditure of the Central Government.
The allocated budgetary resources are optimally utilized towards meeting the operational requirements of the Armed Forces. Depending upon the allocated resources schemes are also reprioritized to ensure that urgent and critical capabilities are acquired without compromise of operational preparedness.
This information was given by Raksha Rajya Mantri Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shri Sanjay Seth in Rajya Sabha today.
NAo/Nampi/Rajib/HS
(Visitor Counter : 347
Ministry of Minority Affairs
Scholarship for Minorities
The Ministry of Minority Affairs implements three Scholarship Schemes viz; Pre-Matric, Post Matric and Merit-cum-Means based Scholarship Schemes for the educational empowerment of students belonging to economically weaker section of the six notified minority communities i.e. Buddhist, Christian, Jain, Muslim, Parsi and Sikh in all States/UTs across the country. The Maulana Azad Education Foundation  under the Ministry of Minority Affairs also implements the Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarship Scheme  for meritorious girl students belonging to the six notified minority communities. The details of applications received, sanctioned and amount involved under the above mentioned schemes is as under:-
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Scholarship Schemes
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Year
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Number of applications received|
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Number of Applications Sanctioned
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Amount Sanctioned

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2018-19
to 2020-21|
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2,72,84,156
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1,96,81,133
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6547.88Disbursement of Scholarships for 2020-21 continues in 2021-22.Applications received implies finally verified applications from State/UTs under the 3 Scholarship Schemes implemented by Ministry of Minority Affairs.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
President's Secretariat
President of India graces Vigilance Awareness Week 2018 function; says checking corruption is essential to creating a New India
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, graced and addressed the Vigilance Awareness Week 2018 function organised by the Central Vigilance Commission in New Delhi today . The theme of this year’s Vigilance Awareness Week is ‘Eradicate Corruption – Build a New India’.
Speaking on the occasion, the President said eradicating corruption is the foremost condition for creating a new India. He emphasised that the confidence of our people that decisions and actions are being undertaken with transparency, accountability and fairness must continuously be enhanced. Technology and the Internet can be of great use in this regard. He noted that the GEM online platform has been introduced to improve transparency and prevent corruption in the public procurement process. From extending banking facilities to previously unbanked sections of our people to implementing the GST regime, various endeavours have been made to boost the formal economy. And adoption of digital systems has also helped contain corruption. In this manner, loopholes for misuse of public money are being addressed.
The President said that there is a serious effort to curb and punish economic offences, and to give habitual offenders a sense of fear of the law. Legislative measures have been taken – for instance the Amendment to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the enforcement of the Benami Property Act as well as the promulgation of the Black Money  & Imposition of Tax Act 2015. The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill has also been introduced in Parliament. Such initiatives give confidence to honest citizens and tax payers.
Click here to see President's Speech
Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of the PM’s remarks in the Rajya Sabha, on the farewell of Vice President Hamid Ansari
Respected Chairman,
After your long term in public service, I am confident that today you will enter the new field of work, because physically you have kept yourself quite fit. You have a family background which has a long history of political association; whose grandfather had been the President of the national party; was in the Constituent Assembly; in a way you come from a family whose ancestors had a great role in public life in general and in the Congress in particular and was also associated with the Khilafat Movement.
You yourself had been a Career Diplomat. Now who is a Career Diplomat? I understood this only after becoming the Prime Minister, because what does it mean when one laughs or what is the meaning of shaking hands; one cannot understand this easily! It is because this is what they are trained to do. But that skill would have been applied here for the past 10 years and this skill definitely would have benefitted the House.
Your career as a Diplomat has been deeply associated to West Asia. You have spent several years of your public life in the same sphere and in the same environment with the same thought and debate and you were associated with such people. Even after retiring, most of your work was still in that sphere, whether in Minority Commission or Aligarh University. But the responsibility for these 10 years had been completely different; like working within the framework of the Constitution; and you have worked very hard to do it well.
Perhaps who felt a bit uneasy, but today you will not have that issue and you will also enjoy this liberation and you will get this opportunity to work with your independent thought process.
Although we could not interact much, but whenever we met, there was a lot to learn from you. Before going to any foreign tour and after returning, whenever I got the opportunity to talk to you, I definitely felt the insight you had, and this helped me to broaden my understanding and therefore I am very grateful to you. I express my gratitude to you from the core of my heart.
As the Vice President of the Nation, for the sake of your services, I express my gratitude on behalf of both the Houses and the people of this country. Your achievements, experience and the post-retirement status hold a great significance. I hope that by following the Constitution, your time and energy shall help in guiding the country. Best wishes!
Thanks a lot!
Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Ministry of Tribal Affairs observes Special Campaign 2.0 through various cleanliness activities
Tribal students from Eklavya Model Residential Schools actively participated in the cleaning initiatives.
Review of records and weeding out of files undertaken as part of campaign
The Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, Shri Arjun Munda, inspected several of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs’ offices and divisions in the Jeewan Tara Building on Parliament Street in New Delhi and in National Tribal Research Institute as part of the special campaign 2.0 launched by Government of India from 2nd October to 31st October, 2022 in outstation offices, attached/subordinate offices.
Union Minister of Tribal Affairs ShriArjun Munda also reviewed the various activities taken up under the campaign during his visit to various offices of the Ministry.
The Secretary Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Shri Anil Kumar Jha and the officers and staff of Ministry of Tribal Affairs also actively participated in the campaign.
The Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, visited the subordinate divisional offices of the Ministry at the Jeewan Tara Building and National Tribal Research Institute.
The Secretary reviewed the process of weeding out old of old records and digitisation exercise being done by the Ministry. He inspected record room and examined files and records being weeded out as per the official procedures.
The campaign aims at cleanliness in the offices and reducing pendency of grievances, VIP reference and parliamentary issues.
The campaign was taken up in more than 300 premises which included the attached offices, Eklavya Model Residential Schools spread across country.
Tribal students from Eklavya Model Residential Schools actively participated in the cleaning initiatives.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has always emphasised on providing clean and hygenic working environment for the officials and staff. The awareness drive aimed at cleanliness in government departments and sensitising government officials about cleanliness.
Ministry of Education
IGNOU extends Online submission of examination Form for June 2020 TEE upto 30th APRIL 2020 without Late Fee
Keeping in view the spread of CORONAVIRUS and LOCKDOWN throughout the country, IGNOU has extended the last date of accepting the June, 2020 Term-end Examination forms WITHOUT ANY LATE FEE upto 30th APRIL, 2020.
Learners can submit June TEE 2020 exam form by visiting the official website www.ignou.ac.in.
The University had earlier extended the deadline for submission of assignments till 30th April, 2020 after the learner support service activities at all Regional Centers/Learners Support Centers  across the country were suspended till 31st March 2020 as a precautionary measure for Novel Corona COVID-19,
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
Global Biofuel Alliance: One of the priorities under India’s G20 Presidency
India, United States, Brazil to work together towards development of a Global Biofuels Alliance along with other interested countries
Aims at facilitating cooperation and intensifying the use of sustainable biofuels, including in the transportation sector
Brazil, India, and the United States, as leading biofuel producers and consumers, will work together during the next few months towards the development of a Global Biofuels Alliance along with other interested countries. This Alliance will be aimed at facilitating cooperation and intensifying the use of sustainable biofuels, including in the transportation sector. It will place emphasis on strengthening markets, facilitating global biofuels trade, development of concrete policy lesson-sharing and provision of technical support for national biofuels programs worldwide. It will also emphasize the already implemented best practices and success cases.
The Alliance shall work in collaboration with and complement the relevant existing regional and international agencies as well as initiatives in the bioenergy, bioeconomy, and energy transition fields more broadly, including the Clean Energy Ministerial Biofuture Platform, the Mission Innovation Bioenergy initiatives, and the Global Bioenergy Partnership .
The Global Biofuel Alliance is one of the priorities under India’s G20 Presidency and was announced by Shri Hardeep S Puri, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Housing & Urban Affairs during India Energy Week 2023.
Ministry of External Affairs
G20 Sherpa briefed the media on the G20 Development Working Group Meeting in Mumbai, Maharashtra from 13-16 December 2022
In connection with the first Development Working Group Meeting in Mumbai from 13-16 December 2022, G20 Sherpa Shri Amitabh Kant addressed media persons today and outlined India’s DWG G20 priorities and approach. Since 2010, the Development Working Group has been acting as a custodian of the development agenda in the G20. After the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Goals in 2015, DWG has steered the alignment of the development agenda of the G20 with the SDGs. Given the nature of its work, the DWG has dealt with several different issues over the last decade depending on the priorities of the Presidency.
Shri Kant emphasized that the challenges the world faces today can only be solved by working together. Our priorities reflect not only the aspirations of G20 Members, but also of the Global South. India is pursuing an inclusive, ambitious, decisive and action-oriented approach. Shri Kant outlined India's DWG priorities as  Green Development including climate action and financing, just energy transitions and LiFE ;  Accelerating implementation of SDGs; and  Digital Public Goods/Data for Development. He added that DWG conversations would also include debt distress, reformed multilateralism and women-led development, and that India will highlight the importance of inclusive growth and collective action to achieve it.
Shri Kant recalled that a new workstream on Disaster Risk Reduction has been established under India's Presidency to encourage collective work, multi-disciplinary research and exchange of best practices on disaster risk reduction. In addition, a new Startup20 Engagement Group has also been initiated under India's G20 Presidency, recognizing the role of Startups in driving innovation that responds to a rapidly changing global scenario.
The three-day meeting will focus on G20 collective actions for accelerating progress on the SDGs, support to developing countries in dealing with immediate concerns relating to food and energy security and debt distress, and a 2023 G20 New Delhi Update on SDGs. Cultural programs showcasing Maharashtra’s rich cultural heritage have been arranged for the G20 delegates with the help of the State Government. Further, an excursion to Kanheri Caves in Mumbai has also been planned for the visiting delegates.
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Dr Jitendra Singh launches the Capacity Building Plan  for Government employees
CBP is a new initiative by PM Modi to train officers and rationalise deployment of officers and staff depending on the skills and acquired competencies, says Dr Jitendra Singh
“PM Modi has emphasised on eGovernance that leads to Easy, Economic and Environment friendly functioning in the Government”: Dr Jitendra Singh
DoPT Minister calls upon the CBC to constantly update the training modules as AI is about to sweep our lives
Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State  Science & Technology, MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space launched the Capacity Building Plan  for Government employees, at DoPT headquarters in New Delhi today.
The Plan has been rolled out by the Capacity Building Commission  in consultation with the DoPT.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Jitendra Singh said the CBP is a new initiative by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to train officers and rationalise deployment of officers and staff depending on the skills and acquired competencies. It lays emphasis on transformation of Government offices.
“Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has emphasised on eGovernance that leads to Easy, Economic and Environment friendly functioning in the Government. Easy implies Elaborate, eOffice leads to Economy, while doing away with file work saves not only time but is also Environment friendly. The Administrative reforms initiated by PM Modi are aimed at creating an efficient, transparent and corruption-free administration,” he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said the Karmayogi Prarambh module has been made part of Induction Training of all Government employees and the same has been implemented for the new recruits who joined Government service under the Rozgar Mela, the 6th sequel of which was held yesterday where over 51,000 youth were handed by appointment letters by PM Modi.
The DoPT Minister called upon the CBC to constantly update and revise the various training modules as the Artificial Intelligence is about to sweep our learning and work culture.
“In this age of technology, the doubling time has shrunk from five years to less than a year,” he said.
Lauding the CBP for the iGOT training modules for all levels of Government employees right from the ASO level to JS and a few select courses for even the Secretaries, Dr Jitendra Singh asked the CBC Chairman Shri Adil Zainulbhai to devise a similar Training Module for the Ministers also.
The CBC Chairman informed the Minister that 700 courses have been introduced on the iGOT platform. Of the roughly 3 million Central Govt employees, he said, 1 million staff is in the Railways, another 1 million in CAPFs and the remaining 1 million in the rest of Ministries and Departments. 80% skills are common related to functional and behavioural skills while just 20% are domain oriented related to specific tasks and roles. The Mission Karmayogi and iGOT aims to transform ‘karamcharis’ to ‘Karamyogis’, he said.
President's Secretariat
President of India Addresses Special Convocation of the Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University; Confers LL.D.  Degrees on Three Eminent Jurists
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, conferred LL.D.  degrees on three eminent jurists – Shri Justice  P. Sathasivam, former Chief Justice of India and currently Governor of Kerala; Shri Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, Judge of the Supreme Court of India; and Smt Justice Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court – at a special convocation of the Tamil Nadu Dr Ambedkar Law University in Chennai today .
Speaking on the occasion, the President said that as our nation, society and economy evolve, there is a need to enhance legal literacy and simplify legal rules. It is important to not only take justice to the people, but also to make it understandable to litigating parties in a language they know. Perhaps a system could be evolved whereby certified translated copies of judgements are made available by the High Courts in the local or regional language. The language of certified copies could be Malayalam in the Kerala High Court or Tamil in the Madras High Court, as the case may be.
Click here to Access President's Address
Prime Minister's Office
Prime Minister pays tributes to scientists on the National Technology Day
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today paid tributes to all the scientists in the country who are using science and technology to bring a positive difference in the lives of others.
Shri Modi was tweeting on the occasion of National Technology Day.
“On National Technology Day, our nation salutes all those who are leveraging technology to bring a positive difference in the lives of others. We remember the exceptional achievement of our scientists on this day in 1998. It was a landmark moment in India’s history”, he said.
Referring to the Pokhran Tests which took place on the 11th of May 1998, Prime Minister said the nuclear tests then were possible only due to a strong political leadership. Prime Minister also shared his quote on the tests, during his one of the MannKiBaat programme.
“The tests in Pokhran in 1998 also showed the difference a strong political leadership can make. Here is what I had said about Pokhran, India’s scientists and Atal Ji’s remarkable leadership during one of the #MannKiBaat programmes,” he said
Shri Modi further tweeted, “Today, technology is helping many in the efforts to make the world free from COVID-19. I salute all those at the forefront of research and innovation on ways to defeat Coronavirus. May we keep harnessing technology, in order to create a healthier and betterplanet”.
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Ministry of Defence
INS AIRAVAT RESCUES FISHING VESSEL OFF CARNICOBAR
INS Airavat received a distress call from fishing vessel Saleth Matha II off Carnicobar, Andaman and Nicobar Islands at 2300 hrs on 30 Jul 21. The ship was transiting through the area whilst on her return leg from Jakarta, Indonesia post successful delivery of COVID 19 relief material as part of Ops Samudra Setu II. She immediately proceeded towards the FV at maximum speed to render assistance. The Port Blair based fishing boat which is of 20 metres in length and seven crew had been drifting off Carnicobar requesting for assistance on MMB channel 16 due to major defect in gear box since early morning on 29 Jul 21. Gusting winds more than 25 knots, swell upto 3.5 meters and intermittent rains because of active South West monsoon in the region made connecting up the towing arrangements an extremely difficult task. INS Airavat is presently towing FV to the nearest harbour for further assistance.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
COVID-19 UPDATE
200.61 cr Total Vaccine doses  have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
26,04,797 doses administered in last 24 hours
India's Active caseload currently stands at 1,45,654
Active cases stand at 0.33%
Recovery Rate currently at 98.47%
18,517 recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to 4,31,32,140
20,557 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours
Daily positivity rate 
Weekly Positivity Rate 
87.06 cr Total Tests conducted so far; 4,98,034 tests conducted in the last 24 hours